Fest
by thesummerstorms
Summary: A Darman and Etain fluff story to get myself writing again. Like a drabble except a lot longer. Omega Squad's been sent back to Fest, but this time Etain's been sent to help out. The downtime before the mission gets into full swing.


**A/N: **A quick note about the story. First off, it's AU because if you look closely, you can't make it fit right _anywhere _with the existing plotline. And speaking of plot, there isn't much of one here, so expect randomness. I wasn't attempting anything very serious; just writing to write and hopefully overcome writer's block. All from a 68-word scrap I found hiding somewhere.

**Disclaimer: **I only wish I owned the clones. :(

Darman had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life.

Okay, so maybe he couldn't actually see her, given she was so bundled up. It was more like he was looking at a spontaneously animated bundle of cloth and thermal suit and snow gear. But the leaping in his heart still told him she was beautiful, and he was going with it.

Jedi General Etain Tur-Mukan – if she was indeed buried somewhere under the many layers of clothing- was approaching slowly, fighting against a harsh winter wind. Omega squad, looking as out of place as ever in their matte black, was waiting to take her back the base.

It felt strange to be on Fest again, Darman mused, and even stranger that Etain was to accompany them this time. Not that he was complaining about her presence. He cherished what little time he had with her, and was glad she was there.

But from a military standpoint, it seemed unusual that she had been sent to them. From a military standpoint, it even irked him a little. Omega had done this mission before, the first time the Seppies had set up camp on the planet, and they had done it with out help. They didn't need help. It was an insult to their abilities.

You couldn't expect command to understand that, though, and at least it was Etain.

She had reached them, now, and Darman could make out a little of her face, just a strip between her goggles and scarf. He could see her eyes through the lenses though, deep green with amber flecks like stars. Beautiful.

"Hello, ma'am," said Fi, and Darman didn't even need to hear the slight click of teeth to know his brother was grinning behind his helmet, "I'm assuming our General is somewhere underneath all of that?"

Etain's voice drifted out, muffled by her gear. Darman couldn't help but smile as well at the sound of her voice.

"Not all of us have environment-sealed armor like yours, Fi. Let's see you in Jedi robes on Fest."

"No thanks, ma'am," said Fi easily, "I'm good."

"I bet you are," she replied, but her tone was happy, "How have you lot been holding out here in icy paradise?"

"Same old, same old," Darman told her, "Well enough."

"Yeah," added Fi, unable to resist, "Getting shot at, freezing our shebs off, the usual. On the other hand, the glaciers are beautiful. Real works of art. Command practically sent us on a paid vacation."

Atin looked up at his brother.

"What pay?"

Niner made that funny little noise in the back of his throat, the one that meant the squad needed to cut the chatter, before he got impatient. They all turned, looking at him expectantly.

"It's good to see you ma'am, but we should get a move on. Can't let the speeders idle too long. They freeze up fast."

"Bet you it has already," said Atin, who was always grumpier in the cold, "either that or it's being torn apart by the locals for spare parts as we speak."

Fi turned to look at the squad tech.

"You are a pessimist," he accused, not for the first time.

Atin snorted. "Please. A realist."

Etain shook her head, which must have been difficult dressed in all that.

"And I'm a feminist. Now let's stow it and move it, shall we?"

Darman's grin widened slightly. After they had removed the camouflaged tarp from the speeder, he climbed into the back of the vehicle and Etain wedged herself between Dar and Atin. Niner was giving her a sitrep as they flew back to base, struggling for volume with the winds and falling snow, but Dar couldn't bring himself to listen to it. He simply watched her, the way she blinked every so often, or raised a hand to her face to brush away snowflakes, turning her gloves white.

His beautiful girl. Darman didn't understand how no one else saw it. He had met a lot of females since that first mission on Qiilura, some civvies, some not, and on both sides of the war or none at all. But never had he found one with that singular spark that made Etain who she was, that irresistibly attracted him to her. No one could be as sheerly right as she was.

Eventually she noticed his unfaltering attention, and gave him a questioning look. Or at least he was guessing it was questioning from what he could see of her. He simply shook his head to tell her it was nothing. He noticed the softly curving outline of her jaw as she turned back to Niner.

"You would think," she said as they pulled up to the base, "that eventually they'd just give it up. Every time the Seps try and set up phrik refining factory, you four or one of the Nulls just blows it up. They should have learned by now that Omega is relentless." Pride echoed in her voice.

"Ah, they just miss us ma'am," replied Fi, "They'd do anything to see such a handsome face again. Even put up with an ugly barve like Atin. The tinnies all run at the sight of him, you know."

There was silence as the scarred clone bent forward to slap his brother on the back of the helmet and the speeder pulled into what served for a hangar.

The base was really less of a base and more of an unwanted building trying to pretend it was one. It had hastily converted to service a commando squad who had taken up residency overnight. The Republic hadn't bothered with a long-term outpost, all though it was starting to look like one was needed.

Last time Omega had dropped from a gunship, placed some dets, shot some droids, and left. This time though, the higher ups wanted more. With a resurgence of Separatist activity on the planet, the squad had been tasked not only to destroy the factory, but to figure out if Seps were gaining the resources to build the factories from the locals, then root out the Sep sympathizers and deal with them. Nothing, Darman mused, was simple anymore. Hence the need for the "base".

It was no hotel inside. Empty crates were turned over here and there, being used as makeshift furniture until Procurement could shift their shebs into gear and get the place properly outfitted. A portable generator was shoved into the dingy corner to power the high-tech comm surveillance equipment, but the lights still flickered overhead.

"Home sweet home" grinned Fi as he removed his helmet, tucking it under his arm, "Sorry we didn't get the parlor ready for company, ma'am, but it's a bit of a fixer-upper."

Atin grunted, "Makes me wish for the barracks."

"It's fine," said Etain quickly before the two could start up again. Stir-crazy commandos kept inside by cold and enemy fire had to be handled with care.

She began peeling off layers of her costume, made clumsy by her cold fingers, and Dar went to help her. Briefly he took her small hand in his, warming it, and she smiled at the gesture.

Eventually she was freed, looking all the scrawnier after being stripped of her protective bulk. She had abandoned robes for what he supposed must be civilian dress; the simple taupe sweater hung too loose for her. He went to unwrap the scarf from her neck, a vibrant emerald that matched her gaze, but she smiled and shook her head.

"I'm good, Darman," Etain said, and he was suddenly once again aware of his brothers' presences in the room, "It's still cold." With out quite knowing why, he blushed.

Etain sat down on a crate, and he took the one next to her. Niner cleared his throat, as if to make sure it was okay to approach them both now, then began to speak.

"So like I was telling you, ma'am-"

"Etain," the Jedi gently corrected him, as she had a thousand times before, "We're not in public."

"Right. Sorry Etain," the Sergeant continued, "We've only been here a week longer than you, but we've already learned a lot. For one thing, the information given to us by intel was drastically skewed."

"Of course it was," said Etain, just like any weary trooper "Question is, how bad?"

"Well, for one thing, the sympathy for the Seppies is a lot stronger here than we were told. I don't know what the civvies have been promised, but most of them aren't talking. At least, not here in Hasjari. Maybe it's different in the other cities."

"But we don't have the time to see, do we?"

"No, not really. Command's pushing us pretty hard on this one. And the more time we take in rooting these guys out, the longer it takes the more chance there is for phrik to make it off planet. The more phrik droids on the battlefield, the more _vode_ who wind up dead."

There was an pause of a few moments there before Niner continued.

"But we do have a possible target to investigate, a man by the name of Uhi Mnit. He's a local planning official, but he holds a lot more power politically than you'd think. He doesn't exactly seem to be the patriotic type, either. We've tried all the normal methods of surveillance, but he's a slippery one and the snow and wind keeps ruining the Dust. "

Etain nodded. Darman thought it was too bad. The microscopic tracking powder had proved infinitely useful back on Triple Zero. Etain placed her hand slowly to her cheek, cupping it under her jaw, as she often did when she was thinking.

"Any idea how we're going to get in close, then?"

"Actually, yes. We were waiting on you, actually ma- Etain. We need to do some infiltration"

She blinked a few times.

"On me?"

"We're pretty sure they don't know what clones actually look like," explained Darman, "But we can't take the risk and alert them to our presence. Where as you-"

"Can pass as any random civvie," she finished, "I see."

Darman couldn't, really, but he accepted the concept. For him alone did Etain have that mysterious glow to her, that way of moving and breathing and existing that marked her so clearly from all others.

Niner opened his mouth to talk detail, but Fi interrupted.

"Sarge, it can wait 'till tomorrow, right?" the medic asked "The General looks exhausted. It's a long flight from Breeka to Fest."

Etain began to protest, still shivering slightly, but Niner looked her over with a cautious eye.

"You're right. Etain, you should get some rest. We have time enough for that, at least. We can't act on anything until morning anyway."

Darman stood and disappeared for a few minutes. When he came back he had a plastene mug in his hands, steaming ever so slightly.

"Caf," he explained, carefully handing the cup to Etain, "It'll cool quick though."

She eyed it wearily for a moment, as if he had just handed her a mystery glass from Quibbu's. He was perplexed. Etain had looked cold, and while maybe Caf wasn't the best thing for sleep, it should warm her up.

Fi got there before Darman did.

"Don't worry, it's not GAR issue. Dar liberated some of the good stuff when he heard where they were sending us. Zey owed us a couple cups anyway. He's always giving some to Maze. I should protest favoritism."

Niner simply muttered something under his breath, probably about regs, but Etain looked back up at Darman, grinning now. General Zey was well known around the barracks for keeping good caf and deployed on her last dustbowl Rim planet, Etain probably hadn't had any in a while.

"I could hug you right now, Dar," Etain told him, "but I think I'd freeze to your armor."

Fi chuckled.

"I don't think he'd mind."

Darman shot him a sharp glance, biting his tongue only because he knew his brother's tendency to mask pain with laughter. And he knew that Etain was indeed a painful thought for Fi, or at least her relationship with Darman was. Etain must have sensed it too, because he could have sworn he saw the corners of her mouth tug down as she placed the cup to her lips.

After she had taken a long sip, Etain set the cup down on a crate beside her, and began reaching into her her bag for something. Darman watched curiously, as did the rest of the squad. Their eyes widened in unison at the promising rustling sound of plasticine; they leaned forward like strills ready to pounce.

"I have my own contribution to the feast, to go with the excellent Caf" the Jedi grinned at Darman in particular as she triumphantly displayed her contraband, "Okay, well, Kal's contribution. He decided some proper provisions were in order."

Strips of jerked bantha, packages of warra nuts, Namana candy, candied bofa fruit and a few other treats Dar didn't recognize at first; all sat on the crate between the five humans. His mouth watered at the sight. He gulped. They'd had nothing but dry rats all week.

"It might all be frozen, honestly-" Etain started to warn, but immediately yanked her hand back as the commandos dived in for the treats, knocking one another's hands out of the way as they fought to get their favorites.

Dar looked briefly to his right as he jostled Atin for the moss chips and caught sight of Etain's face. She looked thoroughly amused, happy even, but eyed their fighting wearily, probably waiting for something to fly up in the air and hit her. The commandos were acting like overgrown boys. Big, strong, muscular overgrown boys. Darman beamed at her, but his attention was quickly pulled back into the fray as Fi tried to snatch a package of the candied fruits.

"Oi! Those are mine, you _di'kut_!"

After a few minutes thing had settled down again, and all of the commandos were happily munching on something or another, stashes settled in their laps.

"Thanks, ma'am," mumbled Fi through a mouthful of the jerked bantha, "You have no idea how much this is appreciated."

Etain just sipped some more at her caf.

"Like I said, thank Kal'buir, not me. The treats are from him. I'm just the courier."

This was meant with content silence, broken only by the noise of chewing. They sat like that for a while. It wasn't quite uncomfortable. Just five beings relaxed enough around each other not to feel the urge to spring into motion and fill the emptiness of the room.

Soon enough the treats were finished and leftovers stashed away like hoarded treasure. Atin begun fiddling with something mechanical, to no one's surprise, and Niner was examining something on his datapad. A aimless whistle filled the air from Fi.

Darman started watching Etain again as he gently rolled a unfinished grenade from palm to palm. It was soothing just to do that. He still couldn't get enough of watching her, as if the next time he blinked she would be gone.

She frowned at him again, probably about the det.

"It's perfectly safe," he told her as he had all that time ago on Triple Zero. Or maybe it hadn't been so long. It felt like it though. "Not even armed. This thing wouldn't go boom even if I wanted it to." Dar didn't even have to ask the question.

"I trust you," Etain said.

Then, to his surprise, she stood up and pulled the heaviest of her layers back on, placing her now empty cup down on her seat and discarding it.

"It sound's like the snow's stopped falling for a while," she explained at his unspoken question, which really wasn't much of an answer. Darman followed anyway.

Etain stepped outside under the slight shelter of an overhang. The field in front of them was unspoiled white, glittering in the sudden sun. Darman looked as well, trying to grasp what so fascinated her. He wrapped his arm around her waist, never one the waist the few precious moments they had alone.

"I'm fascinated by snow," Etain admitted to him, "Though I guess I'll probably be disenchanted by this time tomorrow. The first time I saw rain- or remember seeing it, anyway- was on a youngling trip when I was eight, it felt like this, too. It's nothing special now, but then it seemed magical."

That jolted Darman some. How could anyone have not seen rain? It was constant, it was drenching and eternal, a fixed part of life that never changed- or, at least it had been on Kamino.

But then, Etain had grown up Jedi and on Coruscant. So she would have been used, not to the constant thunder and clouds of Darman's childhood, but the brilliance that was Coruscant. An ever present sun by day, and a mess of flickering and colored lights by night, almost challenging in their refusal to be outshown. So of course rain would seem strange to her.

This, at least, was alien to them both. Though Darman knew from past experience what a pain snow was to fight in, for now the thought was far from his mind.

The vast whiteness of the field stretched out seemingly endless before them. The speeder marks from their arrival earlier had been erased completely and the fresh snow remained perfect and unspoiled, a blank canvas.

Etain gave a small yawn, followed by another shiver. Dar placed his hands on her shoulders and gently steered her towards the door.

"Come on, _cyar'ika_. You really should take a nap. Tomorrow will be long and hard, so rest easy while you can."

"Well, I can live with that," she replied as they disappeared back into the warmshelter, "as long as I have today."

The door closed softly behind them.

_**A/N:**__ Well, I did warn you it was random, didn't I? It's an attempt at fluff and small snips of humor from a normally serious angst writer, so I'm not sure how it would have turned out even if I knew what I was doing. On that note, much thanks to my beta, __**ARC 13**__ for helping me clean up after myself. Vor'e ner vod'ika! _


End file.
